Maffei: Health reform bill is not perfect, but a good start

File photoU.S. Rep. Dan MaffeiSyracuse, N.Y. -- Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, said today if House and Senate Democrats had not passed health care reform legislation last month they would have shut the door on any kind of health care reform for at least another 10 years.

Maffei said he voted for the bill because he did not want to see that happen.

“We know we cannot afford the status quo,” Maffei said in a talk at the Thursday Morning Roundtable at Drumlins in DeWitt. “Health care costs for business have doubled since the year 2000. Too many people are not covered and too many people who are covered are not getting the health care they need.”

Maffei acknowledged that the controversial process used to pass the legislation left a lot to be desired.

After Senate Democrats lost their 60-vote supermajority, House Democrats agreed to pass the Senate’s version of health care reform with no changes, then passed “fixes” in a separate bill, using complex budget reconciliation procedures requiring only a majority vote. The measure was approved without a single Republican vote. Republicans say the process was unfair to the public.

“I can understand why Americans are at the very least confused and at the most disgusted with this process,” Maffei said. “Sausage making is pretty compared to this.”

Maffei said the legislation is a necessary first step. “In terms of health insurance reform, it’s a significant bill. In terms of health care reform, we’re just beginning to scratch the surface.”

Maffei said too many sections of the legislation are vague. The law, for example, does not specific how the proposed new insurance exchanges will be implemented. That and other issues are left to the administration to figure out.

But Maffei said lawmakers can take steps to improve the bill.

“A lot of people say we could have done better it we started over,” Maffei said. “I don’t believe that was possible.”